Honors & Awards

Moore & Lee is listed in the Chambers Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers, USA, AV rated in Martindale-Hubbell®, The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, The Legal 500® for Real Estate and Construction, and Super Lawyers®.

Mr. Lee is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (consistently since 2007). Recently, Mr. Lee was selected by his peers for recognition of his professional excellence in Construction Law and Construction Litigation in the 29th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America^©.

Mr. Lee is also listed in Super Lawyers®, The Top Lawyers in Virginia, Who’s Who Legal: Construction and Super Lawyers®, Corporate Counsel Edition.

Chambers, USA, “America’s Leading Lawyers in Business” lists Mr. Lee as one of the leading lawyers in Construction Law.

Mr. Lee was selected as a Fellow by the Advisory Board of the Litigation Counsel of America.

Biography

Charlie C.H. Lee is Chairman and a Founding Principal of Moore & Lee, P.C., where he has provided strategic legal leadership since the firm’s inception nearly three decades ago. A nationally recognized trial lawyer, negotiator, and counselor, Mr. Lee represents clients in complex, high-stakes litigation and advises organizations confronting their most consequential legal and business risks.

Mr. Lee’s practice spans all areas of litigation, with a particular focus on construction, healthcare, professional and general liability, gaming, and complex commercial disputes. He brings extensive and distinctive experience representing large national corporations, healthcare systems and long-term care institutions, privately and publicly owned senior-care providers, hospitals, insurers and sureties, real estate investment trusts (REITs), private equity and investment groups, gaming and hospitality companies, developers, owners, architects, engineers, and large-scale general contractors and subcontractors.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Lee has negotiated more than 3,000 settlements, resolving complex business disputes, professional and general liability claims, class actions, and other sophisticated litigation matters. With more than thirty-six years of experience, he has successfully managed, arbitrated, tried, and appealed cases across the United States. His trial practice spans state and federal courts in more than thirty-six jurisdictions, including California, Nevada, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Maryland, New York, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and numerous administrative boards of contract appeals.

Mr. Lee also maintains an extensive appellate practice, with experience before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Sixth, Ninth, Eleventh, and Federal Circuits, and numerous state supreme and appellate courts, including those of California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Indiana, and Maryland. He is licensed in the District of Columbia, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, New York, Nevada, Texas, and Washington states.

Beyond the courtroom, Mr. Lee serves as a trusted national advisor to clients with multi-state and international operations. He routinely manages and coordinates litigation portfolios nationwide, overseeing teams of outside counsel to ensure consistent legal positions, disciplined strategy, and cost-effective results. He counsels corporate leadership on risk management, litigation avoidance, and the development of policies and procedures designed to minimize exposure across complex organizational structures.

Mr. Lee is particularly known for his ability to analyze, draft, and refine sophisticated legal agreements addressing arbitrability, indemnification, waivers, risk allocation, limitations of liability, subrogation, and other critical contractual issues. He regularly evaluates and manages liability and contract risk for owners, developers, contractors, sureties, REITs, self-insured corporations, and insurance carriers providing both primary and excess coverages. His clients rely on him not only to litigate disputes, but to bring clarity, predictability, and stability to their overall risk profile. In high-profile matters, he also provides seasoned guidance on public-relations strategy and reputational risk.

In addition to his practice, Mr. Lee has served as an arbitrator on the Construction Panel and Sports Panel of the American Arbitration Association and as a private mediator, further reflecting his standing in the legal and business communities.

 Education

• J.D., American University, 1989
• B.S., Virginia Tech, 1986

Bar Admissions

• Virginia
• Florida
• Washington
• District of Columbia
• New York
• Nevada
• Georgia
• Texas
• North Carolina

Court Admissions

• United States Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Affiliations

Mr. Lee is the founder and past-president of the Asian-American Bar Association of Virginia, and a member of the Virginia State Bar, District of Columbia Bar, Florida State Bar, Washington State Bar, New York State Bar, Georgia State Bar, Nevada State Bar, Texas State Bar, and the American Bar Association.

Testimonials

Dear Charlie: [J]ust a short note to express my gratitude for the way you handled yourself in the mediations yesterday. Your demeanor and professionalism went a long way in getting the cases settled, especially given the fact that you were dealing with a tough and potentially volatile plaintiffs’ counsel. I have been around the court system for more [than] 50 years as a trial lawyer, trial judge, and Iowa Supreme Court justice. During that time I have dealt with hundreds and hundreds of lawyers. In demeanor and professionalism, in my book, you rank among the best of them. It was a pleasure working with you, and I hope our paths will cross again.

– Retired Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Lou Lavorato

While I was General Counsel at Emeritus Corporation, a publicly traded healthcare company with more than 30,000 employees, Charlie Lee and his team at Moore & Lee were an indispensable partner of ours. My confidence in them was and remains unshakable. Their intimate knowledge of the long-term care industry and related litigation risks, combined with Charlie’s unique ability to read people, understand the importance of nuance in litigation, and negotiate the best outcomes, unquestionably saved us millions of dollars.

The legal process in this country is characterized by procedural complexity and potential conflicts of interests that don’t always serve the client’s interests. The role that Moore & Lee played in managing our defense counsel around the country resulted in lower overall cost and the best possible outcome. Charlie’s knowledge of and relationship with defense counsel, the plaintiffs’ bar, and the judiciary across the country enable him to bring about results that no other lawyer or law firm can so consistently achieve.

– Mark A. Finkelstein, Chief Legal & Administrative Officer, Blucora, Inc.

Notable Representation

• Lead trial counsel for engineering firm in lawsuit against contractor related to a $1B project involving a signature bridge in Miami, Florida. Contractor sought more than $400 million in damages, while engineering firm pursued a counterclaim of more than $30 million for unpaid fees. Secured favorable summary judgment rulings, leading to a settlement on the eve of trial that resulted in a net recovery for engineering firm.
• Lead trial counsel in lawsuit related to $1B project for the construction of bridges throughout Pennsylvania.
• Lead trial counsel in disputes and litigation related to highways projects in Texas, Georgia, Virginia, Florida and Pennsylvania.
• Primary strategic, oversight, and settlement counsel for major long-term care and skilled nursing companies.
• Outside general litigation counsel for large private equity, real estate investment and development companies throughout United States.
• Part of apex legal team defending and negotiating settlements for company in lawsuits arising from mass shooting.
• Lead settlement counsel regarding catastrophic injuries for major insurance companies.
• Lead oversight and litigation counsel involving high stakes class action suits against senior living and multi-family housing industries.
• Won numerous complex jury and bench trials in federal and state courts throughout United States.
• Won summary judgment against an architect/engineer in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on a $185 million condominium project leading to a multi-million dollar settlement.
• Won a multi-million judgment in Federal Court of Claims against United States on National Institute of Health project involving disruption, delay, and cumulative impact.
• Won default termination case against the District of Columbia and obtained a multi-million dollar settlement on a wastewater treatment project.
• Won default termination case against the Department of the Navy in the Court of Federal Claims.
• Won federal bench trial against a major subcontractor on a $120 million prison project.
• Obtained multi-million dollar jury verdict against design builder on a residential project.
• Obtained a multi-million dollar award in federal jury trial against design professional on a local jail project.
• Obtained summary judgment against defaulted subcontractor in federal court on a $160 million wastewater treatment project.
• County of Monroe v. Raytheon Co., 48 A.D. 3d 1237, 852 N.Y.S. 2d 549 (4th Dept. 2008).
• Bell BCI Co. v. U.S., 81 Fed. Cl. 617 (2008).
• Bell BCI Co. v. Old Dominion Demolition Corp., 294 F.Supp.2d 807 (E.D. Va. 2003).
• Sunrise Assisted Living, Inc. v. Sunrise Healthcare Corp., 1999 WL 33798757 (E.D. Va. 1999).
• Vulcan Painters, Inc. v. MCI Constructors, Inc., 41 F.3d 1457 (11th Cir. (Ala.) 1995).

Personal

Prior to and during the early part of his legal career, Mr. Lee was a renowned martial artist, appearing on the cover of numerous publications. He is a five-time world champion and holds an eighth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.